Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) Trading 1.9% Higher – Should You Buy?

Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) traded up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $49.29 and last traded at $48.83. 3,277,964 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 9,989,019 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.92.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.91. The stock has a market cap of $46.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. Analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Certified Advisory Corp bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $14,199,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $30,320,000 after acquiring an additional 6,461 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $48,942,000 after purchasing an additional 50,983 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,509,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas.